Scotland to See More Electronic Tagging Sentences

The Scottish Government has announced that it intends to expand the use of electronic tags to help reduce reoffending levels and keep communities safe.

According to Justice Secretary Michael Matheson, the move is based on the advice of a panel of experts and international research, and will involve new projects using electronic monitoring – including GPS tracking in addition to the current radio frequency technology used for home detention – to monitor people as part of their sentence.

This expansion of electronic tagging will apparently be used in addition to community payback orders and other measures to tackle a person’s offending behaviour while providing the added security of restricting their movements.

The Government says it also intends to look at how electronic monitoring could be used ahead of sentencing in cases where the crime would be unlikely to result in a custodial punishment.

“Effective community sentences have driven Scotland’s reoffending rate down to a 17-year low using smarter, more effective interventions,” commented Mr Matheson. “The potential of combining community sentencing alternatives with tagging will allow us to hold people to greater account during their sentence and focus on rehabilitating them.”

“There will always be crimes where a prison sentence is the only reasonable response, but international research backs our own experience that short term sentences are not the most effective way to bring down reoffending,” he added.

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